Kingdom Hearts 3: Keyblade Destiny
by vexenreplica331
Summary: Set after the events of Kingdom Hearts: DDD. Sora gives the Mark of Mastery exam another try this time working with Kairi. However a dark future is set for Sora and his friends and they must bring back the forgotten. The first story in my attempt at continuing the Kingdom Hearts series. Please review.
1. Prologue

Prologue:

Sora was still in a daze about the past few days' events. It seemed like ages ago that he had started the Mark of Mastery exam with Riku. But he had failed… He had ended up relying on Riku to save him resulting in Riku becoming a fully fledged Keyblade Master while Sora had been left to train for another year before he could take the exam again. As if these events couldn't shock him enough, Riku had brought Kairi to the Mysterious Tower so Yen Sid could teach her to become a Keyblade Master as well.

"At least I get to train with Kairi this time," Sora thought, trying to be optimistic.

"Of course you would enjoy training with Kairi." Sora jumped. The voice had from his head and sounded faintly like someone he recognised.

"Roxas?" Sora asked aloud. "Is that you? How is it I can hear you? And what do you mean of course I'd enjoy training with Kairi?"

"Whoa whoa whoa one at a time now," replied Roxas. "To answer the first question, yes it's your dear nobody, Roxas. Second of all…well…I don't know. And thirdly, you know exactly what I mean. Just because I'm not there in person don't think I don't know you like her. I am in your heart after all."

Sora couldn't argue with that logic.

"Aha silence," shouted Roxas in triumph. "Well, when are you going to admit it to her?"

Sora started blushing.

"Well I was going to admit it when she found me again at The Castle that Never Was but…"

"Well? But?"

"But Ansem…or Riku was there."

"Hmph excuses excuses," teased Roxas.

"Does you being able to hear my thoughts have something to do with me getting captured by Xehanort and the new Organisation XIII?" asked Sora, rapidly changing the subject.

"Like I said…I don't know but there's no need for you to continually talk aloud to me, I'm inside you not outside," answered Roxas. Sora hadn't realised he was speaking aloud. He shrugged casually and returned to sitting silently on the stairs to Mysterious Tower for another several minutes.

"Why are you so gloomy?" asked Roxas.

Remembering to only think the words this time, Sora thought: "Well…I've been on so many adventures and done so many things yet apparently I'm still not good enough to be a Keyblade Master."

"How could you say that even when you know the test was messed with by Young Xehanort?" exclaimed Roxas. "You know that you would have passed had the test gone according to plan! Besides, you seemed so happy when Riku became a Keyblade Master and Kairi came here to train."

"But after being captured by Xehanort how do I know that there is not too much darkness is in me," cried Sora mentally. "How do I know that their lives aren't being put on the line just being around me? What if I'm too weak to hold it all back?"

"I'm sure Riku and Kairi would never let you fall into darkness," reassured Roxas.

"Thanks," replied Sora.

"And besides…just look at Riku, he fell into darkness and he's turned out just fine!" exclaimed Roxas. "Anyway, enough being gloomy because if you want to pass the Mark of Mastery exam you're going to have to train."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

As if on cue Kairi walked out of the tower and sat down on the steps next to Sora. Despite himself Sora found a few of his worries melting away. Roxas chuckled to himself inside Sora.

"So…do you want to train with me?" Kairi asked.

"Sure," replied Sora, a grin forming on his face.

"Know any good worlds?"

"I could name a couple," said Sora, the grin now fully implemented on his face.

"Well let's go then."

"Hang on a sec I'll just go get a star shard from Master Yen Sid to travel with."

Sora ran up the tower to get a star shard while Kairi waited at the foot of the stairs. When he got back he asked Kairi if there was anywhere she would like to go in particular.

"Not really," she replied.

"I think I know somewhere you'll like," smiled Sora.

"Really?" asked Kairi. She held his arm as Sora held out the star shard in his other hand and activated it. Some way up the tower at a lone window, Riku watched as they bounced away into the sky in a ball of blue light.


	2. Riku's Tasks

Chapter 1: Riku's Task

Riku watched Sora and Kairi leave the Mysterious Tower from a window in the room he was sharing with Sora. Several thoughts were flying around in his head. For a start he was still getting over the fact that he was now a Keyblade Master. For so long it had seemed like Sora would make a better Keyblade Master. After all, Riku had given into the darkness.

"So why me?" he murmured to himself. Aside from that Riku was also thinking about Sora and Kairi. It was obvious they liked each other. This was something that had been confirmed even more by what he had just seen outside the window. Sora's body language had made it all to clear. But when would they just admit they liked each other and move on. Riku found that when he thought about relationships between other people he found himself feeling a small twinge of sadness and jealousy. Was there anyone out there who had those feelings for him? Before he could dwell on these wishes however, King Mickey appeared in his doorway.

"Master Yen Sid would like to see you," the King informed in his usual cheery voice.

"I'll be right there," replied Riku. He stood up and left his room to see what the Master wanted. Mickey walked beside him.

"So Riku, how does it feel being a Keyblade Master?" asked Mickey.

"It feels…different," Riku decided as he thought about the question.

"In what way?"

"Well…I always thought Sora would be better at this stuff than me as I fell into darkness," replied Riku.

The King listened thoughtfully.

"So why it I'm a Keyblade Master but Sora is not," continued Riku. "I just don't think I will do that well at it."

Mickey considered this as they climbed the monotonous stairway to the top of the tower.

"But the darkness is a thing of the past for you," reasoned the King, trying to cheer Riku up as much as possible. "I'm sure you will be able to do good in your own way as part of a new generation of Keyblade Wielders."

"Thanks," smiled Riku as they reached the top of the tower. He opened the door and let Mickey in first before coming in and closing the door behind him.

"Master, you wanted to see me?" asked Riku.

Master Yen Sid sat in his chair stroking his magnificent beard thoughtfully as usual. Several piles of paper containing what looked like hand written notes sat on the desk in front of him.

"Ah yes, Riku," Yen Sid said in a low, mysterious tone. "I was looking for someone to help me and as our new Keyblade Master I thought you would be the best for the job."

"What do you want done?" asked Riku.

"I have two tasks for you, the first, assuming you have not done it yet is to return to the Destiny Islands and seal its Keyhole."

Riku was dumbfounded. Even after the Destiny Islands were restored they had indeed forgotten to seal its Keyhole. How could they have been so stupid?

"I understand your family is important to you as well," continued Yen Sid. Riku nodded.

"See anyone you might want to there before heading off on the next task."

"Which is?" asked Riku.

"I would like you to watch over Sora and Kairi's training."

Why is that?" asked Riku, his gaze returning to Yen Sid after staring at some pictures on the wall. Yen Sid frowned thoughtfully.

"I feel that after Sora's experiences…there might be more darkness in him than usual."

Riku stepped back, shocked.

"But…that's just unlike him. I saw him just before and he seemed fine. Sora would never give in to the darkness."

"I know that," replied Yen Sid. "But this situation reminds me a little too much of one that happened twelve years ago and that didn't end so well."

Riku showed interest in this revelation.

"Could you tell me about it?" he asked.

"I suppose…it is about time people knew," replied Yen Sid. "There were once three friends named Terra, Aqua and Ventus, each Keyblade Wielders."

"Isn't Ventus the one who protected Sora from Xehanort's darkness?" asked Riku.

"Yes indeed," answered Yen Sid. "They were the best of friends. Terra and Aqua went to sit their Mark of Mastery exams. However, unfortunately, only Aqua passed. As it turned out, Terra had an abundance of darkness in his heart. Beings known as Unversed spread throughout the worlds and Aqua and Terra left home to fight them. Ventus also ran away from home to try to stop Terra falling into darkness."  
Riku listened in wonder.  
"As they travelled through worlds, Terra came closer and closer to the darkness. After arriving home to find his master, Master Eraqus, about to erase Ventus to stop the blade being forged. Not going to let anyone hurt his friend, Terra gave into the darkness to protect his friend. After battle Terra, Master Eraqus was severely weakened. Using this moment, Xehanort struck down Eraqus to make Terra even more susceptible to the darkness."

Riku inhaled suddenly.

"Terra went to the Keyblade Graveyard to head off Xehanort with Aqua and Ventus following him. From there it got even worse."

"How could that get any worse?" asked Riku, imagining what he would do if he were in this situation.

"When fighting Xehanort, Terra gave into the darkness. This allowed Xehanort to place his heart in Terra's body. Meanwhile, Aqua and Ventus were separated from Terra and forced to fight Vanitas, a being created artificially from Xehanort extracting the darkness from Ventus. But after Vanitas was defeated, so was Ventus and his heart sought refuge inside Sora. Aqua hid Ventus' body before going to search for his heart."

"She must have been brave doing that," said Riku.

"Master Aqua was one of the bravest people I've ever known. While searching for Terra to try and bring Ventus' heart back, she found him in the Radiant Garden while Xehanort and Terra were battling for control over the body. While trying to save Terra from the darkness, Aqua sacrificed her Keyblade and Armour to transport Terra back to the real world. She remains trapped in the Realm of Darkness to this day. So please Riku, don't let that happen to Sora."

"I won't Master," promised Riku. He made the promise both physically and mentally. Riku turned to leave the room and set off on his on his tasks.

"Riku," Yen Sid called after him.

"Yes Master?"

"You no longer need to address me as Master, remember that you are one yourself."

"Yes Ma-"said Riku stopping himself. "Yes Yen Sid."

Riku left the room. Mickey turned to face Yen Sid.

"Do ya think he'll be alright?" Mickey asked.

"Of course," was the reply. "He's already proven himself."

"He still doubts himself."

"I know, he just needs time."

Mickey left the room as well leaving Yen Sid to settle back into his thoughts.

Riku pulled a star shard out of his pocket. It had been so long since he had visited home. Not nearly as long as when he fell into darkness but still. It had been awhile. What would his parents say? Did anyone remember him? Riku held out the star shard and thought of all the things that reminded him of home. The beach. The sunlight.

"Home," he muttered.

With that he bounced away into the sky in a ball of blue light not unlike the way Sora and Kairi had left before. But he was alone.

* * *

**So that's the first proper chapter in my version of Kingdom Hearts 3. Please review as it also makes my job a whole lot easier. Also feel free to PM me saying what worlds and Square Enix characters you want to see either returning or making their first appearances. Hope you liked this. The chapters will get a little longer and more interesting once the combat come and the full story comes into play. Yet again as I can not stress it enough, please review and enjoy the next few chapters. Ta ta for now.**


	3. Back Home

**So here's Chapter 2. Thanks for the 2 reviews and suggestions from people. And it is now the summer holidays over here in New Zealand so I'm going to be aiming for at least a chapter every two days from now on.**

**lion5589: Thanks, I hope you enjoy the rest of the story**

**iAMwhatIamK: Thank you for the suggestions. I would love to include TWEWY characters but before I do I think a I want to finish that game first so I fully understand each character**

**Thanks for these responses and enjoy the story.**

**Oh and before I get in trouble, I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney. Just any original characters or worlds I may or may not put in my story.**

**Update 23/1/13: I've changed the plot hole where Kairi didn't know about The Restoration Committee. Thanks to The Unknowing Herald for pointing that out. Pointing out mistakes like that helps a ton when I'm trying to improve the story.**

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Chapter 2: Back Home

Sora and Kairi land in the middle of a big square with many majestic buildings overlooking it. The sun in the sky was just setting making each shadow look hugely bigger than the object making it.

"They've been busy since I was last here," observed Sora looking at the newly restored buildings. Despite all the clear changes he still knew his way around though. Kairi's eyes widened at the sight of the world around her.

"Sora…what world is this?" she asked shakily. Sora turned to look at her.

"Hollow Bastion," answered Sora. "It used to be called Radiant Garden or something like that but it fell into darkness. Some people called the Restoration Committee have been working on rebuilding it."

"Why did you think I would like _this _world?" asked Kairi, turning around as if trying to take in every single surrounding.

"Well…" said Sora starting to blush. "When I thought about where to go I just thought about wherever you wanted to be the most. Therefore it brought us here. But…why here? What were you thinking when we teleported."

Kairi's face paled contrasting her to Sora and her eyes widened even more.

"Home…" she replied.

"Wait what about Destiny Islands?" asked Sora getting very confused. "How can this be home?"

"No…not the Destiny Islands…" said Kairi. "My home before then. My homeworld."

Sora's eyes widened too.

"Wait but that means…no way!" he exclaimed. "You lived here before you came to Destiny Islands?"

"I remember a great darkness," she said, looking at her surroundings. "That must be why I left."

Kairi looked over at the castle on the horizon.

"I used to play in that castle's courtyard," she said pointing at the castle. Sora couldn't believe it. All the times he had visited here and all along it had actually been his best friend's home. Kairi ran over and hugged him tightly. There were tears running down her cheeks.

"Thank you Sora, "she whispered. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart…for bringing me home."

Sora hugged her back and grinned.

"I'm only glad I helped you find it," he said. They stayed like that for a whole minute before they finally came apart. Kairi cleared her throat.

"So…uh do you want to do some training or not," she asked. Several Heartless of varying types appeared. Sora grinned.

"What do you think?" he asked. "And seeing as these guys still haven't sorted out their Heartless problem…"

Sora and Kairi summoned their Keyblades and dispatched of the first wave with no problem. The second wave appeared but it was just a bunch of Shadows.

"We're going to need a lot more than Shadows if we want to train properly," said Sora.

"Sora!" a voice called.

Sora turned to see two people running towards them. The first had brown hair with a scar running across his face. He spun just before he reached them taking out five Shadows at once. The second person was female. She was throwing a giant shuriken as she ran finishing of anything the first missed.

"Leon! Yuffie!" exclaimed Sora.

"Hey Sora. Hey Kairi," greeted Yuffie. "What are you doing here?"

"We practicing against the Heartless so we can pass the Mark of Mastery Exam," explained Kairi.

"Well we can show you where there are much much more Heartless if you want," offered Leon.

"Sure," said Sora. "The more the better."

"Great!" exclaimed Yuffie. "But first we should go back to Merlin's House so no one murders us for not letting them see you."

The group agreed and walked away from the square with Leon leading the way while Yuffie fell into step beside Kairi and started asking her questions.

"So you say this is your home world?" asked Yuffie.

"I'm sure of it," answered Kairi positively. "More sure about it than anything."

Meanwhile Sora was having a conversation with Leon.

"So how's the restoration coming along?" he asked.

"Good," answered Leon. "We've rebuilt most of the town. When that's finished all that'll be left is the castle."

"Then people will be able to start living here again right?"

"Yes. Things will hopefully start getting done quicker now that we have two new recruits as well, if they'll stop mucking about and get some work done."

"Really, who are they?" asked Sora inquisitively.

"I'll let you see that one for yourself," replied Leon.

* * *

Riku landed on the beach he played on so much when he was little.

"At least I landed in the same world this time," He thought remembering the first time he had used a star shard to travel. He winced. Better not think about that. There was still a faint buzzing sound in his ears. It was probably just another side effect of the star shards. Riku turned around examining his surroundings.

"Everything's still here," he noted mentally. He made his way over to the dock where some boats were still moored from when he and Sora had left the islands to take the Mark of Mastery exam. But there were a few extra ones there.

"Who could those belong to," wondered Riku aloud. Just then he heard someone shouting his name.

"Rikuuuu," they called. Riku turned to see Tidus, Wakka and Selphie running towards him. They stopped right in front of him.

"We never thought we'd see you here today!" exclaimed Tidus.

" Same," said Wakka.

"You've grown so tall," wondered Selphie. It was indeed true. Riku had grown at least another two inches since they had last seen him after he and Sora had returned from Xemnas.

"I suppose," said Riku.

"Hey guys, who thinks we should go get some ice cream," suggested Wakka. Everyone seemed to agree with this idea.

"Sure, I just need to tell my parents I'm home first," agreed Riku. "I don't think they'll appreciate having a heart attack because they found out that their son is home from someone else."

The others laughed at that.

"Hey Riku," said Tidus.

"Yeah?" asked Riku.

"I bet I could beat you in a spar."

Riku chuckled.

"Are you two at it already?" asked Selphie, exasperated.

"What do you think?" asked Wakka rhetorically.

Everyone laughed as they set off in their boats towards the mainland, some a little more eager than others.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Things will be heating up a bit in Hollow Bastion next chapter literally so stay tuned. Otherwise keep reviewing and look forward to the next chapter.**  
**Fun fact: This chapter was originally meant to be set in Atlantica before Sora and Kairi would meet up with Riku on Destiny Islands. Then it changed to Twilight Town before me deciding to set it in Hollow Bastion thanks to advice.**


	4. The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee

**Hey guys. Sorry about the late update but I didn't realize I would be spending the weekend away from my computer. Oh well here's the chapter. Please review and suggestions about cameos are welcome. And this chapter marks the appearance of my first original character. Please say whether or not you want him to stay in the story. Other than that, enjoy!**

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Chapter 3: The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee

Sora, Kairi, Leon and Yuffie walked down the street towards the small building the Restoration Committee were based out of. Kairi and Yuffie were still having a conversation that usually consisted of Yuffie asking Kairi questions. When they finally reached the building, Leon held the door open for everyone and let them in. Once they were inside everyone was greeted and introduced to Kairi. Leon introduced Sora and Kairi to the two new members.

"Sora, Kairi, this is Zidane Tribal," said Leon.

"Heya," greeted Zidane. He had longish blonde hair, blue eyes and a strange tail sprouting from behind him. Leon pulled Sora aside to give him some advice.

"Don't let him get too close," warned Leon. "He is an extremely skilled pickpocket."

"Hey!" exclaimed Zidane who appeared to have been eavesdropping.

"And a skilled eavesdropper," continued Leon. Sora looked over the other newcomer who had a huge sword attached to his back. He had broad shoulders and dark brown coloured hair. His piercing eyes overlooked the reunion taking in every single detail.

"That's Subeta," said Leon noting Sora's gaze. "He doesn't talk much."

Subeta glared at him.

"I talk when there is something worth saying," said Subeta gruffly. "Why waste energy on unnecessary tasks?"

Sora held out his hand.

"Nice to meet you," greeted Sora. Subeta eyed Sora's hand warily before shaking it.

"Nice to meet you too…I guess," replied Subeta.

"Does someone want to help with dinner now that we're serving for more people now?" asked Aerith.

"Don't look at me," said Cid.

"Nor me," replied Leon.

"I wouldn't ask either of you to cook," smiled Aerith. "Especially not after last time."

Everyone laughed except for Leon and Cid.

"What happened last time?" asked Sora with a grin forming on his face. Leon winced.

"Never mind," he mumbled. Sora realised he had never seen Leon wince which meant it must have been pretty bad.

"I'll help," offered Kairi brightly. Aerith eyed her.

"Can you cook?" asked Aerith.

"Sure!" exclaimed Kairi. Kairi and Aerith went to the kitchen while the boys sat down at the table except for Cid who continued to type away at his computer.

"Where's Merlin?" asked Sora noting the old man's lack of presence.

"Off somewhere that I don't really care about," replied Cid. "At least he's not blowing things up."

Conversations were cut short when explosions were heard from outside the hideout.

"What was that?" asked Kairi coming rushing in from the kitchen.

"I think Merlin's back," commented Cid.

"Heartless…" said Subeta. Leon opened the door and indeed there was a large group of Heartless outside.

"How-"Sora was about to ask before he was cut off by Leon.

"Don't ask," he told him.

"They're coming from the castle," informed Subeta, taking his massive sword off his back. Blue lines lit up the edges with power.

"Sora, Kairi, Subeta and me will head towards the castle to see what's going on," ordered Leon. "The rest of you stay here and protect the hideout."

"Why can't I come," moaned Yuffie.

"Because someone has to stay here to protect the base," he ordered. "Now come on."

Sora and Kairi summoned Oathkeeper and Destinies' Embrace respectively. Leon unsheathed his gunblade. They rushed out the door towards the castle while the others got their weapons and stepped outside to face the Heartless.

"Well now that I'm in this confounded world let's find Sora and Kairi," a tall, red-headed man grumbled as he ran through the streets of his former homeworld rather hurriedly. The man was indeed Lea and he wasn't in a good mood. He heard Heartless up ahead.

"How can the Heartless have attacked two different worlds at exactly the same time," he thought. "This can't be a coincidence."

The Heartless he had heard before appeared. It turned out it was not many Heartless, but one big one. Lea tried to summon his Keyblade but it wouldn't come to him. Lea growled. Summoning his chakrams instead, he went into a battle position. The Heartless, who looked like a lion infused with the back end of a bright red scorpion, roared shaking the street.

"What was that?" asked Sora pausing.

"Don't worry about it," reassured Leon. "The others will handle it."

"And besides," continued Kairi. " If it's Xehanort summoning these Heartless I would like to personally kick his butt."

"Why's that," asked Leon.

"Because he's messing with my homeworld," growled Kairi slicing a Heartless in half. Both pieces dissipated into shadow. They were making their way towards the castle a little slower than they would have liked to. Subeta was spinning his sword in massive circles destroying anything that got too close. He charged down the street in the direction of the castle annihilating all the Heartless in front of them. Sora and Kairi stared at him in awe.

"Let's go!" exclaimed Leon running off towards the castle. The others followed him, their path no longer obstructed by Heartless.

* * *

Lea had definitely found his least favourite type of Heartless. Not only was this thing annoyingly huge, but of all the Heartless that could have chosen to attack him it had to be the one that ate fire. Just before he had thrown a fireball that might have even made even Xehanort flinch at the Heartless' face only to have it swallow the fireball whole. It retaliated by spewing fireballs all over the place setting a few isolated buildings on fire. Lea recovered from the attack.

"Just die already," shouted Lea as the lion/scorpion hybrid swung its tail at him. Lea flipped out of the way of the tail and threw both chakrams at the Heartless' face. It yowled in pain as they flew across its face leaving shadowy gashes where they cut the skin. The Heartless covered its face with its front paws. He was killing it. But much too slow.

"I need to get to Sora and Kairi," he thought desperately. Catching his chakrams he began to retreat down the street. The Heartless uncovered its face with its paws and started following him.

"Look out!" Lea heard someone shout. He turned to see a girl of about nineteen years old running down the street towards the Heartless. She was carrying a giant shuriken that she used to deflect any fireballs the Heartless threw at her. When she was close enough it started swiping its tail in an effort to hit her. But with expert precision, the girl ducked under and over each swipe and threw her shuriken at the Heatless hitting various weak spots in the process. Eventually the Heartless dissolved back into darkness. The girl walked over to him.

"Who are you?" she asked eyeing him up and down. Lea still had his mouth open puzzling over the fact that a mere girl had completely annihilated a Heartless that had him retreating in a matter of seconds.

"I need practise," he thought.

"The names Lea," he said regaining his composure. "Got it memorised."

"Whatever," she said, walking past him. "If you're looking for people you might as well come this way."

Lea stared at her as she walked away. Running to catch up with her he asked her if she had seen Sora or Kairi.

"What, the two lovebirds?" she asked. "They're over at the castle looking for Xehanort."

Lea chuckled.

"I hope those two haven't done anything to embarrass themselves," he laughed.

"No."

"Well where are they?" Lea asked. "I've got to get them and get back to the Mysterious Tower."

"Right then, this way."

The girl ran off down the street in the direction of the castle.

"Wait aren't you going to tell me your name?" Lea called after her.

"Yuffie," she called back. "Hope you can keep up."

With that she ran off leaving a grumbling Lea to catch up to her.


	5. A Light Extinguished

**Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it and please review. Things will start getting a little more serious in the next few chapters as they begin traveling to other worlds. Oh and if Lea and Yuffie seemed like a couple in the last chapter that was completely unintentional. Although I might do it as I currently don't have plans to pair either of them with anyone. And this chapter marks the arrival of my second OC...I bet everyone just left the page immediately.**

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Chapter 4: A light extinguished

Sora and Kairi stared at the object they had just discovered. There was disbelief in their eyes. Just before they had been exploring the castle looking for the source of the Heartless. Whoever had summoned them appeared to have fled. But then Sora and the rest of the group had found a secret room of which Sora had never seen before.

"Let's see what's inside," suggested Kairi. They stepped cautiously into the room. It was sparsely decorated with only a single chest on the far wall. They walked up to it.

"Do you think we should open it?" asked Sora.

"Why not," answered Leon. "If it contains something useful you might as well take it."

Sora pointed Oathkeeper at the chest and the lock holding it shut clicked open. He pushed the lid open to find inside, expecting potions or ethers of some sort, and found a Keyblade and a set of strange armour. Sora picked up the Keyblade and examined it. Subeta shifted uncomfortably though no one noticed it.

"Who's was this?" Sora wondered aloud. Kairi picked up several pieces of the armour. It was unlike any type of armour they had ever seen. Sora looked over at Kairi and they were both thinking the same thing. If they didn't know who's this stuff was and Yen Sid hadn't told them about any Keyblade Wielders. What wasn't he telling them?

Sora picked up the Keyblade and carried it with him. He and Kairi heard their names being called by a male voice from outside the room. They ran outside to see who it was. Lea and Yuffie had walked straight past the secret passage and looked like they were searching for their group.

"We're right here," Kairi said from behind them. They turned around.

"What's happening back out at the hideout?" asked Leon.

"Everything's okay," answered Yuffie. "Most of the Heartless are either dead or fleeing. And Aerith has healed everyone."

"Good. Let's head back."

Meanwhile Lea was telling Sora and Kairi what was wrong.

"You have to head back to the Mysterious Tower," he ordered. "It's under attack from Heartless."

"What!?" asked Sora, more surprised than questioning.

"We don't know where they came from they just turned up and started attacking."

"Is everyone alright?" asked Kairi.

"When I left everything seemed under control but Mickey, Donald and Goofy won't be able to hold off the Heartless for long."

"We'd better go," suggested Sora.

"Don't worry," said Leon. "We can take things from here."

Everyone returned to the hideout where Yuffie's group had indeed eliminated all the attacking Heartless.

"Good job everyone," said Leon. "It could have been a lot worse."

"Yeah, there could have been two of that fire-eating Heartless," said Lea in mock enthusiasm. Yuffie stared at him.

"What was wrong with it?" she asked.

"Never mind."

Lea started grumbling for the second time that day.

"Shall we go then?" asked Kairi.

"Do you have a way of transporting back?" asked Lea. Sora pulled out their Star Shard.

"Let's go then."

"Wait…how are you getting back?" asked Sora.

"I still have enough darkness in me to travel using dark corridors," answered Lea.

"Oh."

Lea summoned a dark corridor while Sora held out the Star Shard with Kairi holding his arm. Both disappeared, one going into darkness while the other bounced away in a ball of blue light.

* * *

On the Destiny Islands, Riku was not having a good time. He had been tracking a shadowy figure he had seen snooping around the island. Supposedly they hadn't done anything yet and Riku had only seen them once but considering the figure was wearing what looked like an Organisation XIII cloak, Riku thought this was slightly suspicious. He had resolved to find the shadowy figure and find out what he was doing. So when he saw the figure going into the secret place, Riku of course, followed. And now he was stuck in the tunnel.

"How did you end up here again?" he asked himself. His back was pressed up against the ceiling of the tunnel. Pulling himself along, Riku slowly but surely made it to the end of the tunnel.

"Never again," he said to himself. Studying his surroundings, he found a door at the end of the cave that he remembered to be shut. However it was open.

"I bet that hooded figure has gone down there," Riku said. He was about to go down the stairs past the door when one of the many pictures scratched into the wall caught his eye. It was of Sora and Kairi. The former was obviously the better drawn one and had been done by Kairi. The more interesting part was just below the picture however. What looked like new additions were two paopu fruits being fed to one another. Riku smiled, wondering if they had seen the picture together or at different times.

"Probably at different times," he thought. Continuing on down the stairs, Riku found himself in a huge stone cavern. A bright ball of light gleamed in the middle of the cavern. In front of the light was the hooded figure. They had their back turned to Riku.

"Hey, what are you doing?" shouted Riku who had a suspicion that this might just be the heart of the Destiny Islands. The figure turned and pulled his hood down.

"Ahh," he said. "They told me one of you Keyblade meddlers might show up."

He had shoulder length black hair and his eyes glowed bright red.

"Who are you and what are you doing to this world's heart?" repeated Riku while summoning Way to Dawn in a flash of light.

"Let's say the former question is unimportant," the man grinned evilly. "And this heart must go to where all hearts belong."

"Where's that?" asked Riku going into a battle stance.

"Oblivion," answered the man. He summoned two short swords shaped like bat wings. They reminded Riku of his past Keyblade, Soul Eater.

"These remind you of something," gloated the man. "Embrace the darkness within yourself and join me."

"Never," shouted Riku. **(Night of Fate-Kingdom Hearts)** He charged at the gloating man and swung his Keyblade with such force that it would have shattered most normal weapons. The man's weapons however did not appear to be normal as he blocked the blow with ease. The two combatants launched themselves at each other back and forth across the cave. Both were apparently evenly matched as they blocked each attack thrown at them and tried some attacks themselves that the other would block.

"It seems it'll take a little more to defeat you," the man said. He threw one sword into the air. When it hit the ground in front of him it was shrouded in darkness. Picking it up the man did the same with the other blade. Now he charged at Riku attacking with much more speed and force than before. Riku could only just block each attack. In retaliation, Riku flipped in the air and drove his Keyblade into the spot where the man had just been standing. Surprised he wasn't there anymore, Riku turned to find him when the man came up behind him with a kick to the head that knocked Riku down to the ground.** (End Night of Fate) **

"It's a shame my orders say I'm not allowed to kill you," drawled the man. "I guess I'll just say you perished in the darkness."

He walked up to Destiny Island's heart and drove both darkness infused blades into it.

"NO!" shouted Riku trying to get up. The man threw a ball of darkness at Riku's head knocking him back into the ground. The world started to shake and shatter as pieces broke off falling into an endless darkness below.

"See you in the next life," the man grinned as he grabbed his blades from the world's heart and dissipated into shadow. Riku groaned as the world continued to shake. He got up and ran towards the ball of light.

"No, no, no, no," he repeated to himself. "This can't be happening."

The light extinguished itself and cast the cave into total darkness. Riku felt the ground tremble beneath him once more before giving way. Hoping it would work, Riku pulled out the star shard from his pocket and thought of the Mysterious Tower.

"Please work," he muttered. The star shard glowed as if it heard him and Riku felt himself being yanked away from this world and into another.

* * *

Yen Sid stood staring out the window of the tower while Mickey, Donald, Goofy and a newly arrived Sora, Kairi and Lea finished off the rest of the Heartless down below. Thankfully the threat had not been as bad as they had originally thought. Yen Sid watched one star in particular that had been glowing brighter than all the rest before but now had just a faint glow. It extinguished completely seconds later and Yen Sid sighed. A world out there had been destroyed. Yen Sid thought about what world it could have been.

"We must wait for Riku to come back before we do anything else," he said to himself as he sat back down in his chair.

* * *

**Cliffhanger! Please review as I'm am happy when I find out that people have been reading my stories. Any constructive criticism is also helpful. Ta ta for now.**


	6. An Adventure Begins

**Sorry about updating late guys. I got caught up in my next fan-fiction which will start within the next two weeks. I will say now that it is based off a Japanese RPG but is not one made by Square Enix. I also managed to see the Hobbit :D Don't listen to any criticisms against it. It is amazing. Anyways, on with the chapter. This chapter isn't too important storywise is still there.**

* * *

Chapter 5: An Adventure Begins

Sora, Kairi, Lea, Donald and Goofy (Mickey had gone back to Disney Castle saying he needed to get something) stood to attention before Yen Sid who had a grave look in his eyes. He surveyed the people before him. Each had sustained at least a few cuts and scratches but any major injuries had been healed up by Donald pretty quickly. They were eagerly awaiting their next orders.

"Must I tell them what happens next?" Yen Sid thought sadly. It had only been a few minutes since he had seen a world get destroyed from his window.

"Where's Riku?" asked Sora. He looked around the room as if expecting Riku to pop out of hiding and shout "Surprise". Yen Sid looked at him.

"I have sent Riku off on his own task," he answered. "We are waiting for him to return before we plan our next move against Heartless."

"Why are we waiting here when we don't know what other worlds out there could be getting attacked right now?" asked Lea angrily while thinking of Twilight Town.

"We must wait because we are going to need all the help we can get. And if you are still having trouble summoning your Keyblade then you especially are going to need help if you run into Xehanort," scalded Yen Sid.

"If shows up I'll just throw a chakram through his head," said Lea viciously. Yen Sid sighed.

"Xehanort has grown into darkness so much that no weapon but the Keyblade will be able to harm him now," he informed. Everyone else in the room became interested in this new information. "That or high level magic."

"What about light?" asked Kairi.

"The light attacks you are working on mastering will also do extensive damage to the darkness in his heart," answered Yen Sid. A ball of blue light floated down from the ceiling.

"I believe Riku is back," said Yen Sid. But something was wrong. The ball began to shake violently in mid-air before shattering into thousands of blue shards. Riku fell from the blast of light and onto the cold floor.

"Riku!" shouted Sora and Kairi. They ran to his side to make sure he was alright. The star shard he had been carrying was shattered into many pieces on the floor beside him. Riku pushed himself onto his knees painfully.

"I'm alive?" he asked weakly. Sora helped him onto his feet.

"What happened?" Sora asked. Riku groaned.

"The Destiny Islands are gone," he said. "I saw the culprit destroy the world's heart by himself."

Sora and Kairi gasped in shock. Donald and Mickey looked down at their feet sadly. Lea nearly did the same. Nearly. Yen Sid sighed in submission. Sora had an idea.

"We will be able to restore it like last time though won't we?" he asked trying to lighten the mood.

"No," answered Riku. "It's not like last time. Last time the heart of the world fell into darkness by this time it was utterly destroyed. There's nothing left and I was helpless to stop it"

Kairi hugged Sora who could think of nothing else to do but hug her back.

"Who was it that destroyed the islands?" asked Yen Sid.

"I don't know," answered Riku. "They wouldn't say their name. But they carried two blades that look like my old Keyblade. Long black hair and red eyes too."  
Yen Sid thought about this information.

"Know him?" asked Riku.

"No," answered Yen Sid. "I know you all need a rest and would like to mourn for the Destiny Islands but there is a lot of work that must be done and I'm afraid you must leave immediately."

"How will we all travel now that Riku's star shard is gone?" asked Sora. "Too many people travelling on one star shard produces danger of being only half transported."

"Mickey has gone to get you help with that," answered Yen Sid. "In the meanwhile I will give you the tasks that must be completed."

Everyone stood back to attention in front of Yen Sid. Every one of them was willing to help the rest of the worlds out there. Yen Sid cleared his throat.

"As you know, Organisation XIII has been remade but as it was meant to be," announced Yen Sid.

"Wait…for its original purpose?" asked Lea.

"The original purpose of Organisation XIII was to create vessels to hold thirteen parts of Xehanort's soul. This way when they fight our seven lights the Kye Blade."

"Then why are we getting seven lights when we're just playing into Xehanort's hands," asked Sora. He still found all of this confusing even when he had been planned to be a vessel for Xehanort.

"It is the only way we can protect the Princesses of Heart," answered Yen Sid. "Now your task right now is to monitor each world and report to me if anything involving Xehanort happens."

"Yes Master," said everyone in the room. Yen Sid continued.

"Sora and Kairi…please step forward."

Both stepped forward wondering what Yen Sid could want with them.

"In times of emergency, the normal tradition of holding the Mark of Mastery exam once a year can be forgotten. Therefore I will give you a task to work on during this adventure."

Sora and Kairi gasped.

"Another chance at the Mark of Mastery exam?" thought Sora. "And I get to do it with Kairi too."

He wondered what would happen if he failed this time as well.

"I won't let that happen!" he thought determinedly.

"Your task is to restore two of the remaining lights we need to combat Xehanort. Their names are Master Aqua and Ventus."

"Wasn't Ventus the one who protected me from the darkness?" asked Sora.

"Yes," answered Yen Sid. "However, to find him you must first find Aqua as she Is the only one who knows where his body is."

"Where is she?" asked Kairi.

"Trapped inside the Dark Margin. Sora and Riku just missed meeting her after they defeated Xemnas."

"We did?" asked Riku. "But we were sure there was no one else there."

"The Dark Realm can be a deceiving place," said Yen Sid. "It will often make you believe things that are not true, which is why you will need all your wits about you when you travel there."

"How will we be getting there?" asked Sora.

"Lea will help you with that."

Everyone turned to Lea who was leaning against the wall.

"I have just enough darkness left to create one more dark corridor to get you guys there," he said. "But getting back is something that you guys will have to work out."

"I'm sure we'll find a way," grinned Sora. "Right Kairi?"

"Sure?" smiled Kairi.

"Good," said Yen Sid. "Your adventure will start tomorrow. In the meantime get some rest to prepare yourselves."

* * *

Sora, Riku and Kairi walked down the stairs to Sora and Riku's room to talk while Donald and Goofy Lea who stayed to talk to Yen Sid about something. Sora, Riku and Kairi sat in Sora and Riku's room. While Riku lay on the top bunk casting Cure on the injuries that he had sustained, Sora and Kairi sat on the floor with their backs to the bunk beds.

"I can't believe the Destiny Islands are gone," said Kairi sadly.

"And that we were just helpless to stop it from happening," lamented Sora who seemed very out of character. "Things are just going past so quickly."

The three friends sat in silence as Riku continued to Cure his wounds.

"How do you think we'll do in the exam?" asked Sora. He was worried about failing it again.

"You'll be fine," reassured Riku. "The only reason you failed the last exam was because Xehanort messed it all up."  
"I suppose."

"I think we are going to do brilliantly!" exclaimed Kairi. She and Riku continued to talk about the exam while Sora found himself drifting off to sleep…

* * *

"Sora. Sora!"

Sora awoke with a start.

"Gee Sora, you're falling asleep already," Kairi teased while nudging him. Riku laughed.

"Must have just dozed off I guess," said Sora. Everyone laughed.

"Like you don't get enough sleep already," taunted Riku.

"Hey!" exclaimed Sora while trying to sound serious. They all ended up laughing again. Kairi yawned.

"I guess it must be getting late though," she said.

"At least someone agrees with me," said Sora. Kairi hugged him goodnight and went off to her own room. Sora crawled into his own bed and lay there listening to the occasional sounds of Donald practising magic from his and Goofy's room. Eventually even those sounds went quiet too and the tower was silent.


	7. The Exam

**Sorry for not updating in a while guys. Who knew getting Christmas presents for my family would take two whole days...Anyway here's the next chapter. Sora and Kairi set off on the Mark of Mastery Exam. Woot woot. And there's some fluff. Also shout outs to my reviewers: iAMwhatIamK, lion5589 and Animesrock145. You guys (or gals) are awesome! Reviews and constructive criticism is appreciated. On with the story. And did you know the Microsoft Word set in English NZ doesn't think "die" is a world.**

* * *

Chapter 6: The Exam

Sora found himself falling through a seemingly never-ending darkness. Slowly, his feet touched the ground. Or what felt like a solid surface. Looking down, Sora found himself looking at a stained glass platform with him in the center.

"I've been here before," thought Sora. "This is my heart."

"Right you are there," said a voice behind him. Sora turned around to see a blonde haired boy with eyes as blue as Sora standing behind him.

"Roxas!" exclaimed Sora. "What are you doing here?"

"This is your heart is it not," said Roxas. "I belong here because I am a part of you."

It still didn't make any sense to Sora. He scratched his head, confused.

"Why am I here?" he asked. Just then two more beings appeared on either side of Roxas. One looked exactly like Roxas but a little older. He had a strange piece of armour attached to his left shoulder. The other person was a girl he had seen in the dream Xehanort cast him into. She had short black hair and a face that looked like Kairi's.

"You are here because you need to free the people inside you that don't belong," all three said at once. "Your heart is our prison. Free us…"

The three figures dissipated into darkness along with the platform. Sora found himself falling yet again but this time it was much faster. The darkness was pressing in on him from all sides. He couldn't breathe.

* * *

Sora sat up abruptly in his bed whacking his head against the bed above him. This caused Riku to jerk awake. When he realized what had happened he wasn't very happy.

"What's the big idea?" Riku said angrily. Sora rubbed the back of his head which now had a thumping pain after hitting it on the bed above him. He was still kind of freaked out by the dream he had just had.

"Just a nightmare I guess," said Sora who was wondering what it could have meant.

"Well die quietly next time!" said Riku angrily. He went back to sleep almost immediately. Sora however couldn't sleep. His hyperactive brain just kept thinking about random things. Who were the two people with Roxas? Sora had a sneaking suspicion that the person who looked like Roxas was Ventus.

"Why was he in my heart?" Sora wondered. The other person Sora did not know the name of. Why did she look so much like Kairi? Sora couldn't get back to sleep. Deciding that he needed some fresh air he hopped out of bed and walked down the stairs to the steps outside the tower doors. He was surprised to see another person sitting there. It was Kairi. She heard him come out of the tower.

"Can't you sleep either?" Kairi asked.

Sora sat down beside her and looked up at the stars.

"No…not really."

They both sat in silence simply enjoying each other's presence. The stars shone more brightly than Sora had ever seen them shine. He looked over at Kairi beside him. For some reason she looked quite sad as she looked to the stars as well. Sora could understand why. Their homeworld had just been destroyed.

"Well…my homeworld," thought Sora. "But Kairi still grew up there."

"How do you think we'll go in the exam tomorrow?" asked Kairi. "You didn't really say anything about it before because you were asleep."

She nudged him with her elbow. Sora laughed a little.

"I think we'll do just fine if we stick together in the Dark Margin," he said. Kairi put her hand in his.

"You really think so?" she asked.

"Of course," replied Sora

Thanks Sora," she said. They fell silent again while Kairi continued to hold Sora's hand as they watched each star gleam brightly. Soon enough Sora found himself getting drowsy. Kairi yawned.

"I think I'll be able to sleep easier now," said Sora. Kairi nodded.

"Me too."

They walked back to the tower and up the stairs. Kairi's room was first.

"Goodnight," she said looking up at Sora. Sora looked back at her before they looked away from each other blushing. They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before Sora turned to leave. But before leaving Kairi quickly turned Sora to face her and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Before Sora could react she had slipped into her room and shut the door quietly behind her. Sora stood there for a minute too stunned to do anything. The spot on his cheek was still tingling from where Kairi had kissed him. Sora grinned the biggest grin he had ever grinned in his life as he walked up the stairs back to his and Riku's room. When he got there and crawled into bed he fell asleep in near record time with the grin still on his face.

* * *

By the time Sora had woken up the morning sun was shining brightly through the window. Suddenly remembering the Mark of Mastery Exam, he jumped out of the bed energetically and ran up the stairs to Master Yen Sid's room. When Sora got there he found everyone else there waiting for him.

"Morning sleepyhead," teased Riku. Everyone laughed at this. Sora saw Kairi standing in front of Yen Sid's desk.

"Now that all are present we shall begin the Exam," announced Yen Sid. Sora looked over at Kairi who smiled at him. Remembering the events of last night, Sora blushed. No one seemed to notice this though.

"Lea will transport you to the Dark Margin with a dark corridor," said Yen Sid. Sora had a question about this though.

"What about the darkness?" he asked. "Won't that be excessively dangerous without protection?"

Yen Sid pulled two strange-looking pieces of armour from under the desk.

"I have acquired special armour called Keyblade Armour for everyone in this room," he informed while tossing everyone a piece of armour. Sora's clipped onto his forearm sort of like a gauntlet while Kairi's clipped onto her upper arm. Everyone was fastening their piece of armour when Lea brought up a good point.

"Not to burst your bubble," he said facing Yen Sid. "But one piece of armour isn't going to be that effective no matter where you wear it."

Yen Sid only smiled.

"Tap the circle on your armour and you will see."

Sora tapped his and was instantly enveloped in a bright light. The others stared in wonder as the light faded. Sora was standing there in a powerful looking set of armour that shimmered in the light. It was various shades of silver and light blue. One after another, everyone tapped the circle on their armour. Eventually everyone was standing in new, shiny armour.

"Awesome…" breathed Sora. He looked over at Kairi who was dressed in elegant armour the same colour as her indigo eyes. Riku's armour looked even more powerful than Sora's with a mainly black colouring and silver highlights.

"Now that you are protected you may begin the exam," said Yen Sid. "Remember. Your task is to find Master Aqua and then look for Ventus' body. Lea, if you may do the honors."

Lea raised his hand and summoned a dark corridor on the wall. It was tiny compared to other dark corridors.

"Guess that was the last of my darkness," Lea said.

"Find us once you're back," said Riku, saying goodbye to Sora and Kairi.

"What will you be doing?" asked Sora.

"Searching the worlds," replied Riku. But before he could say anything else, Sora and Kairi were sucked into the dark corridor and it closed up behind them.

* * *

Sora found himself lying face down on the ground in a familiar place. The surroundings were all dark but eventually his eyes grew accustomed to it. The sky was pitch black, if it was a sky and there was an eerie emptiness about the place. Sora stood up shakily. Kairi wasn't to be seen.

"Great now you need to find Kairi," said Roxas in Sora's head.

"You're back?" asked Sora mentally.

"I never left," answered Roxas. "Stay on the task at hand. Find Kairi and Aqua and then let's get the heck out of here."

"KAIIIRIIII!" called Sora. There was a faint reply.

"Sora?"

Sora ran in the direction he heard the voice come from. The ground became softer and more like sand. Eventually he found Kairi standing in the middle of a clearing. Several Heartless had surrounded her as she summoned Destiny's Embrace. The Heartless were drawn towards the Keyblade.

"No, Kairi don't!" shouted Sora. "It'll only attract them."

Kairi looked up to see Sora and dispersed her Keyblade. But it was already too late and the Heartless began to attack. One scratched Kairi on the arm as another one jumped on her back. She fell to the ground under the added weight. Sora growled and summoned Kingdom Key to him.

"GET AWAY FROM HER," he shouted as he started slashing away at the Heartless. Kairi managed to throw the one on her back off and began the attack as she summoned both Destiny's Embrace and her Keyblade Armour. Her Keyblade Armour repelled most attacks by the Heartless. Using a mix of Keyblade attacks and low-level magic, she easily dealt with one half of the Heartless. Sora was mopping up the other half using Wisdom Form (he hadn't fought enough to use Final Form yet) and a mix of Keyblade combos and Reversals. Before long all the Heartless present were gone. Sora came over to Kairi to see if she was alright. Kairi got rid of her Keyblade and armour and caught her breath. Sora put his hands on her shoulders.

"You OK?" he asked. Kairi looked up at him. A smile reached her lips.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered. Sora drew her into an embrace and they stayed like that for a minute or so. They came apart awkwardly. Kairi cleared her throat.

"So are we going to find Aqua?" she asked. They looked around them to see what direction would be best to go in. No direction seemed as promising as any other.

"I say we go to the place where we are closest to the light and start there," suggested Sora. "If this Master Aqua has been here such a long time I guess she would have been close to the light in order to survive."

Kairi saw no flaw in this logic and followed Sora towards the sound of waves.

* * *

**Next chapter we see more of Sora and Kairi and also Riku and co. going to the first Disney world. Yay cameos. I will try and get the next chapter out sooner. Please also check out my other story based on Monster Hunter. I will update that tomorrow. As usual please enjoy and review. These chapters will get longer.**


	8. A Congregation of Baddies

**Hey guys. Sorry for not updating in a while but I got very sidetracked around Christmas. Anyway I should hopefully be getting chapters out faster now because it is still the summer holidays for me and I have decided to shift focus from my Monster Hunter story to get this one finished. And I also have ove 1,500 views. Thanks everyone! Hope you enjoy it and please review. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.**

* * *

Chapter 7: A Congregation of Baddies

The atmosphere in the Mysterious Tower was extremely tense. Sora and Kairi had left about two hours ago although Yen Sid said it would only be about ten minutes for them. And everyone was stuck waiting for Mickey to come back with a Gummi Ship. Riku was pacing back and forth in front of the tower while the others were sitting down in various places. Riku growled.

"How much longer is he going to be!" he exclaimed while kicking a small stone. It sailed far over the edge of the world before falling out of sight. Lea stared at him.

"Why so tetchy Riku?" he asked lying back against the stairs. "Just sit down and relax for once."

"No," replied Riku. "I refuse to just sit down and relax while Sora and Kairi are out there fighting. I want to be fighting with them."

"Yen Sid wouldn't have had them take the exam if he knew they couldn't do it," said Donald.

"Gee now even Donald is telling me to sit down," thought Riku. "Where are you Mickey?" Riku looked out at the sky before sighing in submission and sitting down.

"There you go," said Lea. "Now we just need to wait for King Mic-"

Before Lea could finish his sentence a flash lit up the sky for a fraction of a second. Riku stood up expecting this to be the King. It was indeed King Mickey. He was also piloting the largest Gummi Ship Donald and Goofy had ever seen. It was easily three times longer and wider than any Gummi Ship they had dealt with. The heavily armoured hull was scattered with numerous weapon placements. The group stood there in awe as the ship landed taking up the whole clearing in front of the tower. A door in the side opened revealing the King himself.

"C'mon guys," he shouted over the noise of the engines gesturing for them to get onboard. "Let's go fight the Heartless. Don't forget to smile."

"Smile?" asked Lea. Donald turned to him.

"This boat runs on _happy faces_," he answered. Both Riku and Lea groaned.

The group clambered on board with Riku jumping on last. Just before he shut the door he saw Yen Sid looking at them from the top of the tower.

"Riku…" said Yen Sid's voice in his head. "Remember the tasks I gave you. Seal each world's Keyhole to stop the Heartless from returning."

"I will," replied Riku before shutting the door and walking down the hall towards what appeared to be the bridge. There was no word to describe the ship other than majestic. As he made it to the bridge he heard Donald and Goofy asking Mickey where the ship had come from.

"I had Chip and Dale make this a while back," answered Mickey. "Just in the case of an emergency. Computer make haste for Disney Castle."

"Command acknowledged," said a voice from the ship's speakers. "Setting course for Disney Castle."

"Wait," said Riku. "Aren't we going to fight Heartless?"

"You guys are," said Mickey. "I however have work to do at the castle. Donald and Goofy will stay and help you."

Donald and Goofy lowered their heads in disappointment. "But can't you come with us this time your Majesty?" they both asked in unison. Mickey shook his head.

"Someone has to watch over the Cornerstone of Light," he said. "But I'll try to help you as much as I can from the castle. Cheer up guys or we might not even make it there."

"So what do we do on the way to each world?" asked Riku.

"Board games!" exclaimed Donald. Riku groaned. This ship was starting to look better on the outside than the inside.

* * *

Sora and Kairi had been walking for what seemed like ages before they finally reached the beach. Any Heartless they encountered had either attacked them or thought they weren't worth the time and walked away. There were two silhouettes standing at the beach staring out over the water.

"Do you think that's Master Aqua?" Kairi wondered aloud. Sora nodded.

"I think so," he said. "Who could the other person be though?"

The pair walked towards the people on the beach but raised their Keyblades cautiously. The people turned around as Sora and Kairi approached them. One had blue hair and a rather short stature. The other had his face covered in an Organisation XIII cloak. Sora pointed his Keyblade at the person wearing an Organisation XIII cloak.

"Who are you?" he asked forcefully. "Why are you wearing an Organisation XIII cloak?"

The figure merely stared at Sora while Kairi took an interest in the blue-haired girl.

"I'm sure I remember you from somewhere," she said deep in thought. "You were in Radiant Garden."

"And you've grown since I last saw you," replied the girl. "Your name is…Kairi. Right?"

"Yes," answered Kairi. "I remember now. You enchanted my necklace."

"Sorry to break up the reunion but who are you exactly?" asked Sora now wondering if he should be pointing his Keyblade at the girl instead of the hooded figure.

"My name…" answered the girl while pausing as if trying to remember it. "Is Master Aqua."

* * *

Xehanort looked out over the people before him

"Only a few have returned for now," he muttered to himself. "We need them all here."

He went through a list of the new Organisation XIII through his head. Himself, Ansem Seeker of Darkness, Xemnas, Xigbar, Saix and the younger version of himself. Then there were the three assassins, Vanitas (yet he still had trouble in a physical form), the tainted one who was away destroying Destiny Islands, a manifestation of shadow named Sephiroth and of course Xehanort's biggest triumph yet. Terra. The youth had remained under the influence of shadow under all these years. And although his mind tried fighting back, Xehanort was sure that Terra would remain to the darkness until his death.

"Hey old coot!" shouted a voice snapping Xehanort from his concentration. He looked at the perpetrator, Xigbar, icily. "Are we going to go ahead with what we've got?"

Xehanort thought for a while before answering. "The others will just have to hear the news from someone else," he answered. The three assassins, the tainted one and Sephiroth had kept him waiting too long and would pay for it dearly. Xehanort looked down at the "special guest" who was kneeling on the floor below everyone.

"Followers of darkness," Xehanort announced. It got everyone's attention. "It appears that today we a willing volunteer before us ready to serve the dark."

He paused for effect while the other people sitting on the chairs staring emotionlessly at the figure. She looked up. Pale green and yellow eyes with a black headdress. It was Maleficent.

"And so Maleficent," continued Xehanort. "What makes you think you are worthy of joining our ranks?"

Maleficent looked up at Xehanort. "Ah well _Master_ Xehanort," she said putting emphasis on the word master. "I have great experience in dark magic and we have worked together to capture Aurora's heart before have we not?"

Xehanort continued to stare at her. "You do indeed have great power within you Maleficent," he agreed. "We could use that power. However we do not need you."

Maleficent looked up at Xehanort. "What-what do you mean Master?"

"You power could be useful but we do not need _you_ particularly," answered Xehanort. Maleficent did not like the sound of where this was going. She prepared to teleport away. Xigbar noticed this and whipped out one of his beloved arrow guns and shot a bullet through Maleficent's cape, pinning her to the ground. Xehanort readied his Keyblade. Pointing it at Maleficent, a thin line of dark energy connected the Keyblade to her. Maleficent looked down at the energy before trying vainly to get rid of it.

"Give me your power witch!" Xehanort's voice echoed throughout the chamber. The energy connecting him to Maleficent withdrew itself from her and retreated into the Keyblade and Xehanort. Maleficent cried out before her lifeless body hit the ground, drained of all energy. Xehanort smiled evilly. "When the others return we will set the plan into full motion."

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**So did you enjoy that. Please say so in a review. I also need some ideas from you guys as to what Disney worlds should return and any new ones that would be good. I have already decided to do a Olympus Coliseum and quite probably a Wreck-it-Ralph world. Square Enix charcters would also be helpful. Until next time.**


	9. Escape

**While writing this chapter I experienced some bad writers block when thinking about how things will go so sorry if it does seem a bit monotonous. Thanks also to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and gave their suggestions. Its nice to know the are that many people reading this story. Using that feedback I have planned ahead in the story pretty far but places are still open for suggestions. Hope you enjoy this chapter despite its monotonous.**

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Chapter 8: Escape

Sora and Kairi stared at the woman claiming to be Master Aqua. She looked back at them.

"I became trapped here after trying to save my friend from the darkness," Aqua informed them. "He was another Keyblade Wielder you might have heard of. His name was Terra."

Sora shook his head. "I can't say I have seen him."

"I suppose you were sent to bring me back to the real world?" asked Aqua. The man in the black cloak shifted uneasily at the mention of the real world. Both Sora and Kairi nodded.

"We have to bring you back to pass our Mark of Mastery exam," explained Kairi. "But we also need to bring Ventus back. We were hoping you could tell us where you hid his body."

Aqua looked down. "It is in our homeworld," she said. "But his body will not do much good without his heart. Ventus remains asleep until his heart comes back."

Sora held his hand up to his chest. "His heart isn't missing," he reassured her. "It's here…in me. When Ventus' heart was shattered and needed strength it came to me. So now we just need to find his body and we can restore him."

Aqua took this all in. "Sounds like enough of a plan to me. Do you have an escape from here planned?"

Sora scratched the back of his head. "Ummmm…"

Aqua stared at the pair. "How could you have come here willingly and not have an escape planned."

"That was part of the test," explained Kairi. "We were given a way in but had to find our own way out."

Aqua sighed in frustration before turning to face the sea and calm down. Kairi sat down to think about their situation while Sora studied their surroundings. The beach they were on stretched for as far as the eye could see. Sora recognised it as the place he and Riku ended up after defeating Xemnas. Except this time it didn't look like any door to light was going to save them.

"My light is with me this time," thought Sora as he looked over at Kairi. Kairi happened to glance at him as well.

"What?" she asked. Sora looked away to hide the fact that his cheeks had gone red.

"N-nothing," he answered. "If only another message in a bottle would show up."

Kairi laughed. Aqua continued to look out over the sea. The hooded figure simply sat on a rock while staring into empty space. Sora began to muck about with the gauntlet attached to his left hand before accidentally triggering it making Kairi jump and Aqua turn around in surprise.

"Wait…" she said. "Is that Keyblade Armour?"

"Yeah," replied Sora. "Master Yen Sid gave it to us before we left the Mysterious Tower."

"We could use this to escape here! You have Keyblade Armour too?" Aqua asked Kairi who nodded in response. Neither Sora nor Kairi knew how their armour would help them escape the Dark Margin. "Do you know how to summon a Keyblade Rider?"

Sora and Kairi looked at Aqua blankly. "What's a Keyblade Rider?" asked Sora.

"It's when your Keyblade turns into a transport you can use to traverse worlds," explained Aqua. "Just throw your Keyblade in the air and want it to be a transport."

Sora decided to try it but his Keyblade just flew back to him unchanged. Kairi tried it as well. As soon as it started to arc back to her there was a flash of light and instead it returned as a blue and silver glider. Sora glanced at it before trying to summon his Keyblade Rider again. And again. And again. Aqua looked over at him after congratulating Kairi.

"It might take some practice," she told him.

"Yeah no kidding," Sora replied. He took a deep breath to stop getting angry and tried again. At least ten minutes passed when a flash of light finally emitted from Sora's Keyblade as it arced back to him. When the light disappeared a hovering skateboard-like glider flew towards him.

"Finally!" Sora exclaimed. "What next?"

"Well done Sora," congratulated Aqua. "Next we have to open up a door way to another world. This is most often caused by an attachment to someone in another world."

Kairi seemed to get this but Sora, despite having more experience in the matter, didn't understand. Aqua was saying that you needed to focus on a person in the real world to escape this place?

"Like how you thought of me before you and Riku got out of here," said Kairi when she saw the totally blank look on Sora's face. "I thought you would know that."

Sora shrugged. "So you're saying if we think hard enough about a friend we can get sent to that friend?" He was starting to understand it a little better now. The calmness of the situation was destroyed by a deafening roar. The group cringed before looking in the direction of the roar. Hundreds, maybe thousands of Heartless had gathered while the group had been conversing. They were surrounded and severely outnumbered.

"Crap," exclaimed Kairi. Sora looked over at Kairi surprised that it had been her to say that. In all of their time together Sora had never heard Kairi say anything that was close to a swear word. Usually that was Riku. Putting all other thoughts aside, Sora and Kairi summoned their Keyblades back to them and readied for battle.

"I can't summon my Keyblade at the moment but I can back you up with magic," informed Aqua also readying herself for battle. The hooded figure simply stepped back.

"I'm afraid I can't help you in this fight," he apologised as he back away from the advancing Heartless.

Sora and Kairi started to take out some of the smaller Heartless with normal attacks while Aqua managed to trigger Firestorm with a well-placed Triple Firaga. As Kairi slammed a Soldier up into the air, Sora leapt at it and slammed it back into the ground making it disintegrate. They continued combining their attacks to produce devastating results. Aqua ended up accidentally advancing Firestorm to Ghost Drive and started teleporting to the best places to cast magic. Sora swung his Keyblade at the Heartless beginning to surround him. There must have been thousands of them as with each Heartless he defeated two more rose in their place. Casting Zero Graviga, Sora set up a huge group of Heartless to be easily taken out. One larger Heartless however got through to Sora and scratched him across the chest and dealing a fair amount of damage. Right after dealing with it Sora used a potion to heal the wound.

Kairi had already started learning how to channel the light in her heart into a devastating attack. She knew that such an attack would be very helpful in this situation but also knew that such a devastating attack would also leave her devastated and depleted of energy. So instead she started channelling that light into her Keyblade making each attack much more powerful. A Heartless that looked like what Sora called an Angel Wing was starting to attack Kairi with magic from behind the advancing Shadows. When she ran forward to attack it however it blocked every strike with its wings. Deciding to use magic Kairi remembered what Yen Sid had told her about basic black magic.

"Focus is key," his voice echoed in her head. "Keep it under control or your allies will be hurt."

Kairi shivered at the thought of losing control of her power. Deciding Fire would be best, she launched several balls of it at the Angel Wing. The Heartless didn't stand a chance. But when Kairi sighed in relief she forgot to maintain focus. The fire began to spread uncontrollably.

"Kairi!" shouted Aqua. "Get away from there!"

Kairi and Aqua were well out of the affected area and the rampaging fire annihilated a huge amount of the Heartless trying to surround them. This meant that the fire going out of control wouldn't be so bad if it hadn't been for one thing. Sora was still fighting the Heartless with the fire creeping up behind him.

"SORA!" shouted Kairi. Sora turned around and saw the fire coming. Gathering his last reserves of magic, he cast Reflectga to cover himself just as the raging fire slammed past him. Even being protected it managed to slam him into the ground.

"No no no no," thought Kairi hoping frantically that Sora was still alive. "Sora can't be dead. He just can't be!"

As the flame cleared thanks to Aqua, Kairi saw Sora crouched on the ground. Thankfully apart from a few burn marks he seemed to be fine. Kairi ran up to Sora and hugged him so hard he could barely breathe.

"Ah…Kairi…can't…breathe," Sora managed to get out. Kairi quickly let go of Sora and examined him for injuries.

"Let's get out of here before those Heartless come back!" exclaimed Aqua.

"Right…Aqua if you ride second with Kairi because you don't have armour but she can protect you with light and you…" Sora was about to decide how to transport the person with the cloak when he made the decision for him.

"I'm staying here," the hooded figure said flatly. "That way less harm is caused."

"But why-"Sora tried to protest but was cut off.

"In time, you will know. Now get out of here."

Kairi summoned her Keyblade Rider and hovered in the air while Sora lifted his Keyblade and thought of their friends. A light shot out of the tip and widened into a doorway.

"I hope this takes us where we need to be," said Sora. Kairi nodded in response before flying through the doorway with Aqua holding on behind her. Sora summoned his Keyblade Rider…or jetpack in this case, and took one more look at the cloaked figure.

"When you get back to the Realm of Light can you do me a favour?" the cloaked figure asked. Sora nodded. "Make sure that Xehanort…the _true_ Xehanort…is destroyed."

Sora nodded once more before leaving. "I'm sure I've heard his voice somewhere," he thought to himself. Catching up to Kairi, Sora put the thought out of his head. It wasn't long before they came across a world.

"Radiant Garden," breathed Aqua.

"Home," muttered Kairi. This must be where Riku and the others are. The trio were eager to get onto the task of restoring Ventus but guessed they had better stop off here and get Aqua's Keyblade and armour first. Fate however must have been looking on cruelly however as they were stopped by a dark figure hovering in the darkness in front of the world. Xemnas.

"Xemnas," cried Sora. "Let us through before we make a way through."

"I will do but Xehanort's plans involve one of you coming with me," Xemnas replied in his usual monotone and emotionless voice.

"Whatever would make you think we would come with you!" exclaimed Kairi while preparing for a fight. Xemnas smiled coldly.

"Whoever said it was willingly."

Without warning he teleported right next to Kairi's glider and knocked Aqua off violently. "AQUA!" shouted Sora. They had come so close to passing the Mark of Mastery but now their chances of passing were being destroyed right before their eyes. Xemnas grabbed Aqua's unconscious body as it fell off the glider and teleported behind Sora and Kairi.

"Now you may pass," he said before letting out a blast of darkness that sent Sora and Kairi spinning violently out of control towards Radiant Garden. Xemnas teleporting away with Aqua was the last thing Sora saw before everything went black and his consciousness left him too.

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**Cliffhanger! Aren't I mean because the next few chapters will actually focus on what Riku's group did before heading to Radiant Garden instead of continuing on from the cliffhanger :) My goal now is to update twice a week. Please review and constructive criticism is appreciated.**


	10. Olympus Coliseum

**Sorry about the short length of this chapter. I can assure you the next one will be much longer with more action in it. This chapter does introduce some Final Fantasy characters though. And our first Disney World. I hope you enjoy it and please review after reading.**

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Chapter 9: Olympus Coliseum

Riku and Lea had only just survived the horror of having to smile for hours on end.

"Can't there be an easier way to power this thing!" growled Lea. As soon as they had landed on a new world he had wiped the smile off his face. Riku had never thought that travelling between worlds would be so horrifying. The group stepped out of the Gummi Ship to see a coliseum in the distance and the hot sun hovering high in the sky.

"Welcome to Olympus Coliseum!" exclaimed Donald.

"Ahuyck. It's been a while since we visited this place isn't it Donald," said Goofy. "Maybe there's something going on at the coliseum."

"Yeah we should go see Herc!"

The group walked off in the direction of the coliseum. Along the way Donald and Goofy reminisced all the experiences they had had in Olympus Coliseum. Riku wasn't paying any attention because Sora had already told him everything that had happened.

"Speaking of Sora, I wonder how him and Kairi are getting on in the Exam," Riku thought to himself. Yen Sid had told him about how time passed slower in the Realm of Darkness. So by the time they got back it would have probably been a week since they started the Exam. Riku had also remembered Aqua appearing on the Destiny Islands back before Kairi had shown up. And there was that other guy named Terra. Riku wanted to save him to find out why he had given Riku the Keyblade.

"Why me of all people?" Riku asked himself. The sun continued to shine brightly without a cloud in sight as the group reached the town just outside the coliseum. An extremely short man with what looked like goat legs was walking hurriedly ahead of them.

"Hey look," shouted Goofy. "It's Phil"

"Phil," called Donald. The man noticed them and walked over. Riku noticed that the guy was even shorter up close.

"Hello there Donald and Goofy," smiled Phil. "It's been a while hasn't it? And where's Sora?"

"Ah…Sora has to do something else before he joins us," explained Donald.

"What you guys on another adventure or something?"

"Yeah we were directed here to your world," interjected Lea. "We were wondering if you had seen any Heartless around here recently."

Phil didn't like the sound of Heartless ruining his day. "Well they had better not show up and especially not today or I'll give them an old one-two."

"What's so special about today?" asked Goofy.

"It's Herc's birthday you see," said Phil. "And we're holding a celebratory games down at the coliseum. Hey! Wouldn't it be great if we could have some heroes like you and Goofy compete in the games?"

By the time he said the last part Phil was pretty much talking to just Donald. "I'm sure a small detour won't hurt. Riku and Lea can compete as well."

Phil turned to examine said people. "Ah yes. We always need some new junior heroes."

Lea was taken aback at the statement and he was sure Riku was as well but he just wasn't showing it.

"Now listen here shorty," Lea started rather irritated. "I've been burnt, clawed at, turned into a Heartless and practically killed. If that doesn't make me a hero while those two are then you're crazy…got it memorized."

"Yeah yeah whatever" droned Phil. "Let's get you guys signed up for the games."

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At the coliseum they were split into two groups. Riku and Donald in one and Lea and Goofy in the other.

"Now your first fights will be starting pretty soon so meet me in the vestibule once you're ready," Phil then turned to Donald and Goofy. "And on a side-thought you two had better keep these junior heroes out of trouble. We don't want any trouble on the one day of the year that Herc actually has a rest."

Phil walked off into the vestibule while the group stood around waiting for the games to start. Lea was pacing around furiously.

"Who is he calling junior heroes!" he muttered. "We'll just show him in these games. Oh yes…we'll wipe that smile right off his face."

Riku and the others decided to leave Lea to his little rant and instead waited patiently. Before long someone who looked like another contestant walked by before stopping to talk to them.

"Are you competing in the games?" the man asked. A largely horned helm covered his slightly spiked blonde hair that was drawn into a long ponytail. Purple robes were covered by golden armour with extended claws protruding from the gauntlets. A purple crown depicting a serpent sat atop his head.

"Yes we are," answered Riku who stepped forward to shake the man's hand. The man simply stared at Riku's hand before sneering and speaking once more.

"Beings like you don't stand a chance."

Riku did his best to ignore the man's rudeness. "Why would that be?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Lea. "We're going to win and then teach that old goat a lesson!"

"Hmph. It would be best for mere insects like you to not worry your puny minds about such matters. Keep out of the games for your own good."

"I'm starting to want you to make me!" threatened Lea who stepped forward in front of Riku and started to get in the man's face. The man simply sneered again and walked off into the vestibule.

"All world's will remember this as the day Emperor Mateus received the power to take over all worlds," the so called "emperor" called out. Riku turned back to face the rest of the group.

"We'd better head off there too," he said. "The games should be starting soon and hopefully it'll just be us facing each other in the final."

"Well it'll be easy to tell who will win then," gloated Donald. Goofy simply said nothing and Lea continued to rant and ramble on about people being rude and arrogant. In the vestibule, they came across an orange haired young man with muscular build and a white toga. He walked over to Donald and Goofy.

"Herc," they exclaimed as they ran up to greet him.

"Hey guys," Hercules replied. "Are you competing in the games."

"Yup," answered Goofy. "And happy birthday Hercules."

Thank you but…where's Sora."

"Sora can't be here today. He has to take a test to become a Keyblade Master. But we know he'll pass with flying colours."

"I never knew heroes had to take tests," said Hercules. Hercules turned to Riku and Lea. "I guess you guys are competing with Donald and Goofy."

Riku nodded. "I'm Riku."

"And I'm Lea, got it memorized."

Hercules laughed. "I think so," he replied. "I guess Phil has started calling you junior heroes as well."

Lea started grumbling. "That old goat…"

Hercules laughed. "Don't think anything of it," he reassured. "He does that to everyone. Well I'll be off. I promised I'd see Meg before the games started."

Hercules ran off while Riku asked Donald… "Who's Meg?"

Donald laughed his little duck laugh. "Think of Sora and Kairi."

"Oh," said Riku. "That's who Meg is."

Riku and Donald walked out of the vestibule and into one section of the arena to face their first challenge while Lea and Goofy walked into another.

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Riku and Donald had faced five challenges that afternoon all under the boiling sun. Even Riku was starting to sweat a little and Donald was puffing for air. The pairs they had faced hadn't been too challenging though. Nothing more powerful than your average Heartless.

"And the winner is…Riku and Donald!" shouted the announcer. Riku and Donald congratulated their opponents and walked back to the vestibule and were surprised to see Lea and Goofy already there.

"What happened to you guys?" asked Donald. Lea looked up at them from the ground with an annoyed face.

"We lost," he said. "That's what happened."

"Oh. Don't worry," reassured Donald. "We'll still get to the finals and win it for us."

"Hmph" was the only reply he got.

"Who did you lose to?" asked Riku. Goofy answered this time.

"We dunno. They didn't say their names. All they said was something about getting closer to beating _him_."

"Who's him?"

"Don't know that either."

At that point Phil walked into the vestibule. "Not bad for junior heroes you two," he congratulated Lea and Goofy. Phil turned to face Riku and Donald. "Your next match is in five minutes. Win this and you're into the finals."

"Who are we facing?" asked Riku. Phil looked down at his tablet.

"Two contestants named Firion and Maria. Better watch out for them. From what I've seen they have some pretty good skills."

Phil walked out of the room leaving it in silence again.

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**I hope you look forward to the next chapter and if I haven't asked you enough then please review after reading...if I have asked you enough just ignore this authors note. Ta ta for now.**


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